Apple’s IoT 'Good Housekeeping' Label: MFi

MADISON, Wis. — Expect Apple to beat Google to the punch by unveiling its Internet of Things (IoT) strategy on its home front at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference next week in San Francisco.

Apple will lay out a plan to connect a plethora of IoT devices -- light bulbs, thermostats, door locks, washing machines, refrigerators -- with iPhone. Apple's iPhone will serve as a screen to set up each of these IoT devices (since some of them are physically too small to have a screen of their own) and automatically connect them to the home network, after which the iPhone becomes the smart home's all-purpose remote control.

EE Times has learned that the key to its execution is a wireless chip -- WiFi, Bluetooth, or Zigbee -- and an MCU, combined with a piece of software that allows each IoT device to be certified as an MFi (Made For iPhone/iPad/iPod) device.

The beauty of the scheme is twofold.

First, it's simple. Consumers no longer need to worry about setting up from scratch a home network of their own. They don't have to think about a hub or which devices may or may not work on their network. They can simply hunt for the MFi label on home appliances and IoT gadgets in the home or at the store. This will assure that they can set up their own smart home and control it from an iOS device.

Second, it's inclusive. There's no need for Apple to build its own refrigerator or thermostat to realize Apple's smart home dream. Nor does Apple need to talk every home appliance or IoT device vendor into using a special software-based automation layer controlled by Apple. All Apple asks is to have each device MFi certified.

The simple connectivity function and MFi certification embedded in each IoT device will do the job of setting up the smart home to be controlled by an iOS device.

In contrast, sure, Google already owns Nest thermostats, but Google's Android OS isn't anywhere close to pulling off a similar smart home network scheme by using an Android phone. Android has no equivalent to MFi. Without it, the Android ecosystem, for now, is running the risk of building a fragmented smart home. Samsung does one thing, while LG does another -- that sort of thing.

The MFi scheme would place no limits to what sort of wireless connectivity needs to be used for each IoT device. If it is a door lock, it probably makes sense to use Bluetooth Smart. For a washing machine -- or any other appliance plugged into a wall -- adding WiFi enables each one to communicate with cloud services through the home network, sending an alert if it breaks down. If light bulbs are set up as part of the network, ZigBee would be the choice of wireless technology.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times broke a story headlined "Apple sees the light in push for Jetsons-style home automation." EE Times has independently verified what are likely to become the building blocks for Apple's smart home plan by speaking to industry sources, although they declined to give their names.

Then this will require consumers to buy new i-devices as well as existing Apple Devices does not include ZigBee chipset, as per my best of knowledge. This in indirectly force users to change the i-devices.

I would assume it is transport agnostic, so while "MFi" devices could be controlled by an Android or Windows phone, they won't have the software to do so. Apple has probably been refining this software for some time, so the initial user experience on iOS will likely be far better than others playing catch-up will attain. Similar to how rough around the edges Android was at first, really only coming into its own with 4.x.

AZskibum, i agree. I didn't see the MFi coming for the smart home front, but it is indeed brilliant. Until now, IoT, especially for the home front, has always been something nebulous...but now it's suddenly looking like a reality!

@Junko: I would argue the market will be split (as in smart phones) between MFI and MFA camps, the latter taking the lead to begin with. History will not repeat on this front (as it did with iOS leading over Android and then losing it) in my opinion.

One of the reasons for this is Apple's approach to product development ends up being higher COGS when compared to Android clones, hence higher price tag. If Apple does not want to see this history repeat itself, it has to take a radically new approach to its iIoT (i2oT?) pricing.

@docdivakar, I agree. But then there is an issue of who will take charge in the Android eco-system for pulling off the home network initiative. If Samsung wants to do its own home network using Android, their implementation will be surely different from what LG wants to do ... or not.

Its true that MFi certified devices will have a premium over other IoT devices but alteast Apple has a clear vision of what the company wants and hope that the rest of the industry will either follow it or make some compliances. But this scheme of Apple is great and seems all inclusive.

yes Junko, Apple seems to understand IoT better than the rest along with how the company will deal with the complexity of connecting the diverse devices. Also given the reputation of Apple and its product i do not think that there will be a lot of convincing needed to be done on consumer front. Let's see how quickly and flawlessly Apple rolls it out.

Even though Apple will be able to initiate the MFi kind of concept for the home automation, but ultimately it will be an advantage for Androids. As MFi will be mainly communicating with the devices via Bluetooth/ZigBee/WiFi, being these a standard protocols of communication any other device based on Android or Windows will be able to communicate provided the mobile application existing on the platform, which generally all the home appliance manufacture will design for all the platforms.

True, Kinnar. As long as you have wireless (or wired) connectivity in your device, yes, you can build a home network. And it doesn't matter whether the control device is iPhone or Android. But what Apple's MFi does is to ease the pain of connecting the different devices in a network.

I've always found the concept of "home automation" or "home network" a non-starter -- largely because it will inevitably involve so many complexity and steps (if you want to build a seirous home network) for oridnary consumers to handle.

What better way to build it by just looking for good house keeping seals like MFi in an IoT device you buy?

To have some uniqueness, it can be thought of putting some sort of facilities like "WPS" we have on the wireless routers for paring the devices with security. Yes that is again a part of standard protocol, and in case of Bluetooth or ZigBee is some amendment is made need to be the part of standard. So it is hard for one company to put uniqueness for its own use. But at the same time this is very good advantage for the community as they will have advancement in home automation because of this. This will also enable earning opportunities for the home appliances manufactures, increasing the buybacks of old equipments. And I think that will be more revenue generating for appliances manufactures as compared to Apple of Google.

@Junko: You are right about home automation gadgets being non-starters, may be more so in the past than the present. The good old VCR flashing LED display comes to mind when I think about this! But now a days, the gadget makers have gone to the extra mile of making out-of-the-box installation so simple that it is hard to argue this point.

It took me exactly 3 minutes to setup my Sonos speakers thru WiFi with my home network. For a "connected" home, one can expect I-o-T devices out-of-the-box to find their home network and set up automatically in a couple of minutes.

@docdivakar, good point. Maybe I am still living in the last decade, ha ha. That said, yes, so-called out of the box experience is crucial especilaly for those IoT devices. Good to know setting up Sonos speakers was so easy!

"I've always found the concept of "home automation" or "home network" a non-starter -- largely because it will inevitably involve so many complexity and steps (if you want to build a seirous home network) for oridnary consumers to handle."

Exactly. It matters not whether the control device & apps are running on an iOS or Android device. What matters is the ability of ordinary consumers -- not just just engineers -- to easily put together & effectively use a system. Apple's approach will likely make it so that even my mom could do this if she wanted, and she might actually want to. Android vendors could do the same, but one of them will need to take the lead and make it happen.

BTW, I often find that this question helps me step out of my engineer's view and try to see things from a regular consumer's perspective: "Could my mom do this? Would she want to?"

I think IOT is misrepresented here. If i am right, it is a network where everything talks to every other thing that involves android or ios device too. Consider a situation, where an IOT sensor detects a fire breakout in a smart home. Apart from informing it to the home owners smartphone, the system should take other safety and emergency actions automatically such as alerting a fire station, alerting neighbour houses, open windows and doors for emergency exit, switching off all the electrical circuit connections (lights..?) inside the home as a safety measure and much more...!

The point here is, it is no more APPLE or ANDROID when it comes to living in an IOT era.

You are right!!! There is a misunderstanding on iot.
And this time lets see what marketing strategy Apple is going to adopt to pose their overpriced products tl customer.
With iphone they took advantage of netwok provider schemes. I am curious to see their marketing stunt to compete Chinese and other cheap devices with similar capabilities.

I dont use cheap Chinese but I feel you think if something is cheap means it is inferior (). I have money to buy iphone but a cheap nexus or galaxy does my all my job. Apple iphon BOM cost is around $200 and sold for $700. I dont want to make them rich with my money.
I belongs to india, develop softwares for Americans and europian countries for a very cheap rates but my code is running in many world class embedded system products. I have improved many designs and code. So cheap should not be correlated with bad quality. I do understand iPhone quality its really awesome. I only dont want to admire them just because their devices are overprice and I am just advocating worthiness over overpriced.
Nothing personal.

@vasanth, you are absolutely right. In the era of IoT, there should be no differences whether consumers are using iOS or Android. And yet, if your goal is in tying everything together within your home network, having each device -- hanging off of the same network -- become compliant to iOS device can make things easier.

Well, in theory perhaps each operating system can do the same...reality is such that Apple is much more close system than Android and with iPhone the house keeping set-up is probably really simple...I think this is a brilliant move on part of the Apple, sounds like a better idea than Google spending gew billions to buy some thermostats...I wonder why the popular press has not picked this story up....kudos to Junko!

Google is likely to face a lot of catching up here. One thing I heard at WWDC is that because Apple is the only source of iPhone vendors, there is a much higher rate of users updating the iOS. That means that more iPhone users are using the latest iOS version on their handsets, making it much easier for Apple to control its security. In contrast, Google will face a much harder time to send security patches or whatever software updates they may want to send to Android device users.

Building a proprietary home network based on a single OS sounds so last century and I don't personally agree. And yet, I do see that Apple is definitely at advantage here.

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If not, it is doable you will locate oneself wasting your funds.

Solutions Once more, sound cards is not going to be all the time the identical as an additional. A single laptop sound card could give you sure options having said that an additional may perhaps deliver different options and functions. One explicit characteristic which you could possibly want to appear out for may be the MIDI enabled function. This enables you to join a musical instrument for your laptop personal computer to convert it into digital audio.

The characteristics and selections to think about all rely on your wants and wants. You must surely know what you need just before buying.

Brand Brand is a different significant consideration. Some makers actually are greater in comparison with other individuals in regards to top quality. Then once more, some brands supply less expensive costs than others in the value of your product's durability. When choosing which brand to buy from, choose what's necessary to you

Getting a laptop sound card can drastically boost the efficiency of one's machine when it comes to audio output. Having said that if you usually do not adhere to these considerations, then you might not have the ability to get exactly what you may need or require. Be careful as to when, where, and what to purchase to ensure that you simply get your money's worth

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For additional Laptop Sound Card information and facts go to the web-site.

The following is actually a listing of 4 points that you just ought to discover about your laptop sound card earlier than spending your money on a speaker program.

Version You normally have to look at the version. You have got to ascertain when you wish to acquire the most recent version of sound card that's around within the market. It is not a sensible believed to get the cheapest a single that you simply merely locate. It really is possible you are going to discover that exactly the same firm or producer is advertising totally distinctive fashions at varying rates. Also bear in mind to examine when the newest model with the sound card you're shopping for is supported by your laptop.

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Solutions Once more, sound cards is not going to be all the time the identical as an additional. A single laptop sound card could give you sure options having said that an additional may perhaps deliver different options and functions. One explicit characteristic which you could possibly want to appear out for may be the MIDI enabled function. This enables you to join a musical instrument for your laptop personal computer to convert it into digital audio.

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Brand Brand is a different significant consideration. Some makers actually are greater in comparison with other individuals in regards to top quality. Then once more, some brands supply less expensive costs than others in the value of your product's durability. When choosing which brand to buy from, choose what's necessary to you.

Getting a laptop sound card can drastically boost the efficiency of one's machine when it comes to audio output. Having said that if you usually do not adhere to these considerations, then you might not have the ability to get exactly what you may need or require. Be careful as to when, where, and what to purchase to ensure that you simply get your money's worth.

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Version You normally have to look at the version. You have got to ascertain when you wish to acquire the most recent version of sound card that's around within the market. It is not a sensible believed to get the cheapest a single that you simply merely locate. It really is possible you are going to discover that exactly the same firm or producer is advertising totally distinctive fashions at varying rates. Also bear in mind to examine when the newest model with the sound card you're shopping for is supported by your laptop.

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If not, it is doable you will locate oneself wasting your funds.

Solutions Once more, sound cards is not going to be all the time the identical as an additional. A single laptop sound card could give you sure options having said that an additional may perhaps deliver different options and functions. One explicit characteristic which you could possibly want to appear out for may be the MIDI enabled function. This enables you to join a musical instrument for your laptop personal computer to convert it into digital audio.

The characteristics and selections to think about all rely on your wants and wants. You must surely know what you need just before buying.

Brand Brand is a different significant consideration. Some makers actually are greater in comparison with other individuals in regards to top quality. Then once more, some brands supply less expensive costs than others in the value of your product's durability. When choosing which brand to buy from, choose what's necessary to you

Getting a laptop sound card can drastically boost the efficiency of one's machine when it comes to audio output. Having said that if you usually do not adhere to these considerations, then you might not have the ability to get exactly what you may need or require. Be careful as to when, where, and what to purchase to ensure that you simply get your money's worth

.

For additional Laptop Sound Card information and facts go to the web-site.

The following is actually a listing of 4 points that you just ought to discover about your laptop sound card earlier than spending your money on a speaker program.

Version You normally have to look at the version. You have got to ascertain when you wish to acquire the most recent version of sound card that's around within the market. It is not a sensible believed to get the cheapest a single that you simply merely locate. It really is possible you are going to discover that exactly the same firm or producer is advertising totally distinctive fashions at varying rates. Also bear in mind to examine when the newest model with the sound card you're shopping for is supported by your laptop.

Compatibility Difficulty This brings us for the next consideration. You will need to make certain that the laptop sound card you're spending your dollars on is supported by your machine. You can find different types of sound cards in the industry constructed for distinct purposes. Several of them might be handled by the motherboard at the moment within your laptop whereas others can not. That is certainly maybe a very highly effective consideration when obtaining a brand new sound card, or any other laptop laptop or computer hardware for that matter. In case you are unsure in regards to the specifications of the motherboard or the compatibility, it is ideal to seek advice from with a technician. You possibly can make contact with the client help of your laptop's producer or it is possible to bring it to a retailer for a technician to inspect it. All the time bear in mind to test compatibility.

If not, it is doable you will locate oneself wasting your funds.

Solutions Once more, sound cards is not going to be all the time the identical as an additional. A single laptop sound card could give you sure options having said that an additional may perhaps deliver different options and functions. One explicit characteristic which you could possibly want to appear out for may be the MIDI enabled function. This enables you to join a musical instrument for your laptop personal computer to convert it into digital audio.

The characteristics and selections to think about all rely on your wants and wants. You must surely know what you need just before buying.

Brand Brand is a different significant consideration. Some makers actually are greater in comparison with other individuals in regards to top quality. Then once more, some brands supply less expensive costs than others in the value of your product's durability. When choosing which brand to buy from, choose what's necessary to you.

Getting a laptop sound card can drastically boost the efficiency of one's machine when it comes to audio output. Having said that if you usually do not adhere to these considerations, then you might not have the ability to get exactly what you may need or require. Be careful as to when, where, and what to purchase to ensure that you simply get your money's worth.

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We're trying to reduce our energy consumption to save the planet. Has anyone calculated how much energy will be required to put a processor on everything on the planet. Is this really the way to build a 'smart planet?'

I agree Junko...simplicity is the key...I have technical skils to set my own houskeeping network (I do have PhD in ECE after all)...but I lerady spending so many hours a week working on electronics and staring at the screen that doing that is the last things I want to do is become IT manager of my home network...one click on the iPhone I can do! Kris